I'm working on handle options for a couple ice rods I'm working on. I wanted to use a composite reel seat but all the arbor options I'm finding are pre-drilled too large. I prefer not to use tape as I feel it ends up dampening the feel of the rod.

So here's my question, has anyone ever experimented with filling the space with a rigid closed cell expanding polyurethane foam? I've seen pre-made arbors made out the same material.

How small do you need the arbor I.D. to be?

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Drill bit [ long ] wooden dowel is one way , solid cork rings , then the same thing , drill an turn down , or tape one end of reel seat an fill with rod bond with blank in place , wine corks ., wine corks off the web ,

William Sidney
AK

Hi Chris - I agree with your dislike of masking tape arbors for ice rods. What size blank are you working with?

Here are some of my work-arounds.

Mudhole has a carbon tube that measures .250 OD and .200 ID that you could use for the full length of the seat, or cut it into 1" arbors and either way add conventional graphite arbors onto it. [www.mudhole.com]

Making thread and epoxy thread finish arbors by wrapping the blank with size D thread only takes a couple minutes (not counting drying time) and makes a hard arbor compared to tape - for a reel seat arbor just build up the thread arbor to .250 OD and glue on the graphite arbors.

Jann's has 1/8" ID cork rings (actual measurement is a bit bigger") that you could turn the rings down into arbors.

If you have a lathe, wood dowels could be drilled to make your own arbors. Or make a simple drilling jig for a hand drill or drill press by drilling through a scrap 2x4 with a bit the size of your blank, flip it over and drill half way through with the OD size of the dowel. Press the dowel into the hole and use the pre-drilled smaller hole to guide your drill bit to make what should be a well centered hole in the dowel for your arbor. (Sanding the dowel down to size if needed.)

The blanks are the solid carbon extreme taper blanks from sportsmen's direct. The butt end is .197" (5mm) in diameter. I havent measured the blank in the reel seat area diameter but obviously it is slightly more narrow.

I'd like to keep it as light and rigid as possible. The mudhole carbon tube would still require some sort of arbor between it and the blank. The idea of thread/epoxy arbors is interesting, that would probably work.

I'm really tempted to attempt to to get the seat in place somehow and fill it with the rigid expanding foam. Kind of like creating an arbor in situ.

Try a couple of wraps of fiberglass dry wall tape. It is extremely light and the mesh allows the epoxy to form a strong bond between the blank and a premade polyurethane foam arbor.
Norm

Chris Burger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The blanks are the solid carbon extreme taper
> blanks from sportsmen's direct. The butt end is
> .197" (5mm) in diameter. I havent measured the
> blank in the reel seat area diameter but obviously
> it is slightly more narrow.
>
> I'd like to keep it as light and rigid as
> possible. The mudhole carbon tube would still
> require some sort of arbor between it and the
> blank. The idea of thread/epoxy arbors is
> interesting, that would probably work.
>
> I'm really tempted to attempt to to get the seat
> in place somehow and fill it with the rigid
> expanding foam. Kind of like creating an arbor in
> situ.

I happen to have an SDI "Walleye Special" on hand that has a "5 mm butt" so I dry fit a Mudhole carbon tube on it and it is a perfect slip on fit - maybe even a little tighter than it would have to be to allow for Rod Bond. Most of the SDI blanks have a straight non-tapered butt section - unless they've been trimmed substantially. Thread arbors or a loose spiral of thread will work to fill a minimal gap if there is a tapered area.

In case you haven't run across it, there's a free and very useful "Ice Blank Database" on the web in Excel that lists the profile of most commonly available ice blanks. It's a good reference for comparing different blanks and to plan your builds.

Thanks Dan, sounds like it won't be an issue. One of the blanks is also a "walleye special." I don't plan to trim the blank at all. I also have one of the 48" SDI extreme taper blanks that I might take down to 40". So we'll see with that one.

What's your plan for your "walleye special?"

Any idea for butt wraps that work on thin blanks?

Thanks for the info on the excel file. That's awesome.

Rodmaker magazine had a pretty good article on making your own foam cores. Easy to do and you can have what ever size you need. 1 smaller tube and can make enough arbors to do a ton of rods.

Hello All.

Grant do you mean the "Foam Core Molding Station"? if so its in volume-11, Issue-1, page-19.

Hope that helps.



Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Sounds like we have the same taste in ice blanks Chris!

"The no-tape arbors challenge" for ice rods can take some planning. Using the Ice Blank Profile Database helps me a lot for planning out the grips for different size blanks.. I also keep a notebook that I plan out the supplies for my builds, and record my guide spacing, etc.so that I can duplicate or modify future rod builds. Send me an email if you can't find the database file and I can send it to you.

While I admire the skill and artistry of the builders that do decorative wraps, etc. I prefer my rods to be plain. There's a Facebook ice rod group that has a lot of artistic and talented builders that can be helpful with that area.

What do you plan to use the 48" blank for? As is, it would be powerful enough for walleye, but I sanded mine a bit to use for panfish. I've build a couple of 48" extreme taper carbon SDI rods, and also a glass 48" extreme taper as a deadstick. I haven't used my carbon or glass rod yet, but my fishing buddy LOVES his carbon rod that I gave him last year. I built the carbon rods to be stand up rods for panfish and perch - I'm 6' 4" so I build them full length. I did sand the carbon blanks a bit to lighten the tip and midsection. I don't like the sharp edges and cold metal of reel seats for ice rods, so I make Tennessee type grips and attach the reels with electrical tape. My buddy's carbon rod got a 6" cork grip made with Jann's 1/8" hole cork. Mine I made a grip using a Forecast FC06 arbor that I painted and clear coated (it's lighter and harder than cork, and appears to be fairly durable, but not as tough as cork or EVA) The FC06 did need some small thread arbors to fill the gap between that and the blank - a couple of wraps of size D thread and a coat of thread finish. I also painted the blank tips on my rods Flo Green with Rustoleum 2X (primer, paint, clear.) For guides I wrapped on a #4 Pac Bay fly guide for a tip top, followed by 5 more #4 fly guides, a #8 SV, and a #10 M match guide - this is for use with an inline reel, if it was for a spinning reel I'd maybe go with a #12 M.

The grip on my Walleye Special is going to be made with the Mudhole arbor tube inside an FC06 arbor. I haven't mocked up the guide train yet - it will be similar to 48" above but with fewer guides. Using the 1/4" Mudhole tube arbor opens up a world of possibilities for standard 1/4" ID pre-made grips, or turning your own grips, etc.

Everyone has their own unique preferences and styles, and these are just a few ideas that I used to build my rods that might be helpful. Enjoy building and using your new ice rods!

If you have an accurate drill press and some patience you can fill and drill the seat. Cap the end of the seat with foam, hearing protection ear plug works good. Then fill the reelseat with a nice thin epoxy that takes some time to set. Once set drill out to whatever size you need. All that said I would go fiberglass drywall tape. Less screwing around and work just as well.

Chris,
Don't overthink it.
I have built hundreds of ice rods and when a blank is too small I just use masking tape arbors. I use 1/4 inch wide tape with about a 1/16th to 1/8th gap between the rows or masking tape.
Then, when I glue on the grip, I just use enough epoxy to fill the gaps between the tape that gives the ultimate sensitivity of the blank to the grip.
Easy and quick to do, and as far as I am concerned - gives extreme sensitivity.

Simple, quick, sensitive and it simply works.

Good luck